


and we will be winning

by orphan_account



Series: tomorrow they'll see what we are [5]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: (sort of?), Family, Friendship, Gen, Surprise Party, other characters (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 13:56:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11784570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Davey and Les Jacobs don't really know what's wrong, but something's up and they're going to address it in one way or another.





	and we will be winning

It's Les who notices first, less than a minute after Jack re-appears from Pulitzer's office to address the magnificent crowd assembled in Newsies Square. Specs and Race kept an eye on him while Davey went up to meet Pulitzer with Jack, and in the moments between when the doors open and when he reunites with his brother, Les notices.

"Hey, is something wrong with Jack?"

The first time it's asked, Davey just shrugs it off. "It's been a long night, Les. He's probably just tired."

The second, he rolls his eyes. "If he _still_ wants to go to Santa Fe, I'd say something is." That one earns a panicked look from Race, standing nearby, that Davey doesn't notice but Les does. It's the first time he's seen Race make that sort of expression, which means that something definitely isn't okay here. But Davey's his big brother, so Les sighs and just keeps hold of his brother's hand as the strike settles, Crutchie returns, and they line up to get their papes for the new day. Maybe Race is just overthinking things — he didn't sleep last night, none of them did ( _well, Les did, but Davey forced him to go home and sleep because he's little, and he's pretty sure Jack did the same to some of the youngest newsies_ ).

Les may be little, but he's good at noticing stuff. Maybe it's because he's little, since that means people don't expect him to pay attention to as much, and they forget to hide things when he's around. So he sees the tight look on Jack's face, the defensive hunch of Crutchie's shoulders, the panic darting behind Race's eyes and the weary concern in Specs's movements. In fact, when he actively looks for it, he sees exhaustion and worry and tension in all of the newsies, for themselves or for each other. He doesn't really get why, but figures maybe it's just because they didn't get enough sleep ( _Davey always lectures him about getting enough sleep_ ). 

Maybe he can get Davey to lecture them too.

* * *

Davey doesn't notice for days. His brother keeps asking, tugging at his sleeve when they arrive in the morning, whispering, "Hey, Davey, do you think Jack's okay?" or "Hey, I think something's wrong with Crutchie, don't you think?" or, later in the evening, "You should go tell Race about sleeping enough." 

He figures — well, it's just Les. His little brother is a bit precocious, in some ways, and has always been more empathic than Davey. In some cases, too much so — he picks up on emotions that aren't really there, or reads too much into the things he sees people do. Sure, Crutchie's limp has been worse recently, but disabilities like that can have good days and bad days, so Davey just figures the kid's going through a stretch of bad days after his manhandling during the ( _unjust, cowardly, cruel_ ) arrest. Yeah, Race looks like his black eye has split and migrated into a pair of impressive dark shadows under his eyes, but he's always grinning and snarking so maybe he's just been staying up late to play cards or go gamble. It's not like Davey knows them all that well, after all, so for all he and Les know this could just be normal.

Eventually, though, he can't come up with any excuses for why Jack's expression sometimes freezes and cracks like glass. They've taken to selling in a group of four — he and Les, and Jack and Crutchie — and he'd have to be exceptionally oblivious to not see how Crutchie always reacts to these moments ( _his voice lowers, takes on a more soothing cadence than usual, he stands straighter and always positions himself so that Jack is beside his good shoulder, a show of support? it's unclear_ ). He'd have to be even moreso to not notice that Jack knows, and apparently doesn't care.

What could be bothering the great leader Jack Kelly so much that he leans bodily into the support shown to him, without a care for who sees it?

After a few days of this, he and Les sit down together in their room to make plans. ( _Les is a little impatient, since he's been seeing this for a good week longer than Davey has, but at least they're closer to the same page now_ ). Since they only see the rest of the newsies at the beginning of the day when they get their papes ( _well, the rest besides Jack and Crutchie_ ), they need to find a way to interact with the rest of the group for enough time to make some concrete observations about what's going on. ( _Davey's heard about this at school, in a science-y way — you have to have evidence to support your hypothesis, though he's not sure what his is yet_ ). Their planning takes a good chunk of the evening, and it's not until their mother interrupts with a gentle knock on the door to tell them it's time for dinner that an idea hits Davey.

It takes about a week of planning, coordinating with his mother ( _Esther is more than approving of the idea, since she would dearly love to do something for those boys who helped her own, but couldn't even fathom fitting them all into her family's small home_ ), asking Crutchie for information ( _he, too, is very excited for a chance to eat home-cooked food, though he does send Davey confused looks every now and then as they debate what to make and how to make it_ ), and quizzing back and forth with Les about what they're looking for before everything is ready. They gather all their earnings and eat sparely, so as to have enough resources to make the whole plan really worthwhile, and not even Les grumbles about the extra papes they carry and sell or the small portions they eat at dinner.

Somehow, Specs gets word of what's going on and passes along an invite to Katherine ( _it's only fair she be included, Davey feels a little silly for forgetting that_ ), who promises to bring dessert to make it a real treat, though she's curious about what brought the idea about. Crutchie tells Race, who tells Spot ( _because apparently the Brooklyn newsies and Manhattan newsies are closer than he thought? Or perhaps it's just Race and Spot who are better friends than expected_ ), and now apparently Spot's arranging to come as well with a few of his boys. Katherine mentions the plan to Medda ( _somehow, they've become good friends, which makes a bit of sense seeing as how they can bond over how exasperating Jack is_ ), and suddenly the theater is being offered as a location to use so that they don't have to worry about trying to make things work in the Lodging House comfortably.

Somehow, through the line of communication and elaboration, Davey's plan for a covert information-gathering event has turned into some sort of party. He's not quite sure how to feel about that, considering what happened with the last event he organized ( _he still hasn't gotten Jack to tell him exactly what happened at that rally, but figures maybe it's just not the time_ ). However, Les is helping with this one, and his mum, and Crutchie, and he's pretty sure they're enough of a safety net to keep him from royally screwing things up. 

The end of the week comes all too quickly, and on the day of the event Les leads Jack and Crutchie to Medda's theater after their papes are sold ( _as Jack doesn't know about the plan, and Crutchie hasn't been to Medda's before_ ) while Davey rushes home to help their mother ( _and Katherine, who meets him there with a large box of something she won't reveal_ ) carry the dishes they've prepared back to where the rest of the newsies are being gathered. Specs and Spot have everyone corralled, to make sure nobody runs off and disappears during the wait. Crutchie and Les split off from Jack, leaving him under Race and Medda's watchful eyes as they dart around to the back entrance to reunite with Davey's group and hurry inside to set everything up.

It takes a little while to set up, and Medda does a fine job of running distraction by giving the boys an impromptu performance so that Esther has ample to direct her small crew of helpers in setting everything out to her standards. Katherine and Les have a fine time of deciding where to hide her mystery dessert, and Crutchie seems to warm up to Esther far more quickly than even Davey expected ( _'she reminds me of my mum', he later explains, and Davey knows not to ask any more_ ). Finally, they're done and ready, and Katherine opens the door to let everyone in.

"Davey, you'se _joking_ , right?"

He's not sure whether to be flattered or offended that Jack immediately zeros in on him, and settles on shrugging nonchalantly. "Mom liked the idea a lot more than I expected."

They stand, staring at each other, as the rest of the newsies and Medda pour into the room to find seats and plates and exclaim excitedly ( _this may be the first warm, home-cooked meal many of them have had in a long, long time_ ). Jack's gaze seems suspicious, fragmented, but Esther hurries over and greets him with a warm hug and a plate of food, and something in his expression seems to almost fit back together again. Davey's mom is good at doing that. "I— Davey, these guys is gonna _worship_ your mum, you knows? These fellas ain't had—"

"A mum in a while. I know, Jack." The change in Jack's expression is so pronounced that Davey can't help but wonder how he never noticed that his friend looked broken, now that he looks whole. "Come on, Katherine and Les and Crutchie saved you a seat over there, and Mom'll be real sad if you don't eat."

The smile that slowly creeps onto Jack's face seems to glow, and Davey feels a rush of satisfaction telling him that this was a good choice. Maybe it won't get him answers, but it's making the newsies ( _his friends, his brothers beyond blood_ ) smile and laugh without needing to guard themselves, and that's more than worth it. Crutchie and Katherine are trading over-the-top impressions of Jack and laughing hysterically, Romeo and one of Spot's newsies — the girl, Smalls — are engaging in a silverware duel with brilliant grins, and Race and Albert are teaching Les how to play spoons along his thigh with eyes that for once don't shine with manic energy or exhausted determination, but instead with joy. All around the room, he sees happy faces and hears voices loud with exuberance instead of desperation, and decides that maybe his plan did work out after all ( _in the end, he doesn't think he really needs to answer his questions, as long as he can do his best to help_ ).

He meets his brother's eyes across the room, and Les grins and shoots him two thumbs up. Davey's really, really proud of his little brother ( _he always is, but today especially, knowing that this is all because Les refused to look away when he saw friends in trouble_ ).

Maybe this is a way they can give back to their new family.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof. I 100% do not know how to write Davey and Les. 
> 
> I feel like this really went sideways from the voice I've been using for most of this series, unfortunately, but at the same time — hm, I'm not sure how to describe it. I feel like it's also appropriate for Davey and Les's section to have a different tone, because they're coming from more of an outside perspective — they don't know about Jack's issues, or anyone else's for that matter, but they're close enough that they can tell something's up and want to help.
> 
> I wrote this in one go this morning, so I may decide to take it down and re-write it at a later time if I feel like I have a better idea for how their installment should go.
> 
> Meanwhile, Katherine is next (and last), and I hope you like this one alright!
> 
>  
> 
> _(For the record, I'm using the name given for their mom in the movie but not including Sarah, because these are in the musical!verse and while it is established that their mom lives and exists there, they never mention a sister. Hence the omission)._


End file.
